Open is better than closed

Who can predict what will happen in today’s fast-moving world, asks CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

[…] I don’t know where all this goes but in periods like it, open systems like America’s will do better than closed ones.

The US often looks like a dysfunctional country because all its problems are on display and debated daily. Everthing – economic strategy, monetary policy, homeland security, police practices, infrastructure – is out there, open for constant criticism.

But this transparency means that people have information and it forces the country to look at its problems, grapple with them and react.

While it’s a messy, sometimes ugly process, the American system actually takes in a lot of diverse contradictory information and responds. It seems dysfunctional but it’s actually highly adaptive.

Fareed’s Take: The strength of chaotic U.S. campaigns (CNN video), quote above starts at 2:13.

(Image at top via the Guardian)